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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Exhibit of North African Mosaics now at the Getty Villa!

I was so excited to see the notice about the "Stories in Stone" exhibit of north African Roman Mosaics that has opened at the Getty Villa! I had hoped to go down there and now I have a particular reason to go before April 30, 2007!

"This exhibition presents a selection of mosaics from the national museums of Tunisia. They are among the finest of the thousands of mosaics produced between the second and the sixth centuries A.D. in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis, a portion of which is known today as Tunisia.

These works, fashioned as pavements for both public buildings and private homes, represent subjects such as nature, theater and spectacle, and myths, gods, and goddesses. The exhibition also includes material on the conservation of mosaics and on the work of the Getty Conservation Institute's field project on conservation of mosaics in situ.

Mosaic art flourished in North Africa, where the diversity of limestone and marble fostered a tradition of polychromatic (multicolored) work. Beginning in the late second century, mosaics made in Roman Africa became more colorful, featuring geometric designs embellished with floral patterns. During the third century, scenes with figures emerged. In public baths, for example, mosaics often related to the sea and depicted natural elements as well as marine gods. In the fourth century, increasingly original decorative motifs included laurel garlands and crowns as borders. Figural compositions portrayed vignettes of daily life, such as hunting, fishing, athletics, and amphitheater games."

I was afraid I might never get a chance to travel to Tunisia to see their wonderful mosaics because of my husbands fear of me traveling in the region because of all of the anti-American sentiment. Now I have a chance to see at least some of them.

Maybe I can arrange to visit by February 1 and then I can see the special lecture, Puzzling Iconography:

Christine Kondoleon, senior curator of Greek and Roman art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, explores the enigmatic iconography of several mosaics in the exhibition

Thursday, February 1, 2007, 8:00 p.m.

I also noticed that the Getty is selling two very interesting books on mosaics:

Stories in Stone: Conserving Mosaics of Roman AfricaEdited by Aicha Ben Abed and

Tunisian Mosaics: Treasures from Roman AfricaBy Aicha Ben Abed

The Getty is charging $75 for the first book (a hardcover) and $29.95 for the second book but I found the first book on Amazon and preordered it for only $29.95 and the second book for only $19.77. Plus I don't have to stuff them in my suitcase!

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I am passionate about technology, education and history, particularly ancient history. I am constantly exploring ways to use technology to enhance the learning environment and am particularly ecstatic when I can develop a technology to advance the study of ancient history.Follow me on Twitter! Comments or Questions: mharrsch@uoregon.edu

Artist/Historian George S. Stuart creates Marius' Mule for New York collector

In addition to creating figures for museum exhibition, artist historian George S. Stuart also produces commissioned figures for serious collectors. One of his collectors requested this figure of a Roman legionary serving in the legions under the command of Gaius Marius. Marius is recognized for totally restructuring the Roman Army and introducing new training regimens. He changed the army from a voluntary militia to a professional force, allowing men from all classes of Roman society to join and make a career of military service.
See a full length view of this amazingly detailed figure at the Gallery of Historical Figures!